Muttbach-Belvédère Station

Muttbach-Belvédère

DFB train at Muttbach-Belvédère, July 2006.
Location Furka Pass
Obergoms
Goms, Valais
Switzerland
Coordinates 46°34′02″N 08°24′15″E / 46.56722°N 8.40417°E / 46.56722; 8.40417Coordinates: 46°34′02″N 08°24′15″E / 46.56722°N 8.40417°E / 46.56722; 8.40417
Elevation 2,120 m (6,960 ft)
Operated by Furka Oberalp Bahn (to 1981)
Furka Cogwheel Steam Railway (since 2000)
Line(s) Furka Oberalp Bahn (FO) (to 1981)
Furka Cogwheel Steam Railway (DFB) (since 2000)
Distance 9.206 km (5.720 mi)
from Realp DFB
History
Opened 3 July 1926 (1926-07-03)
Electrified 1 July 1942 (1942-07-01)
Location
Muttbach-Belvédère
Location within Switzerland

Muttbach-Belvédère Station (Alemannic German: Haltestelle Muttbach-Belvédère) is a metre gauge railway passenger facility, at the western portal of the Furka Summit Tunnel, in the Canton of Valais, Switzerland.

In the Swiss German dialect, the expression Haltestelle normally refers to a railway facility without points or switches, where scheduled trains are allowed to stop, depart or terminate.[1] Muttbach-Belvédère is not strictly a facility of that kind, because it is actually a crossing loop, with a point or switch at each end.[2] Nevertheless, the word Haltestelle is the expression most often used to describe it, perhaps because for such a rudimentary facility, Haltestelle seems more appropriate than Bahnhof.

Between 1926 and 1981, Muttbach-Belvédère formed part of the Furka Oberalp Bahn (FO). The portion of the FO on which it is located was then replaced by the Furka Base Tunnel in 1982. Since being reopened in 2000, Muttbach-Belvédère has been owned and operated by a heritage railway, the Furka Cogwheel Steam Railway (German: Dampfbahn Furka-Bergstrecke) (DFB).

History

Muttbach-Belvédère was opened in 1926, upon the opening of the portion of the FO between Gletsch and Realp. It is in a spectacular and environmentally significant location, and was constructed on top of spoil that had been excavated from the Summit Tunnel.[2]

The first part of its name, "Muttbach", is also the name of the adjacent stream that drains from the Mutt Glacier. "Belvédère", the rest of its name, refers to a well known hotel and lookout situated nearby, on the Furka Pass high above the Rhone Glacier.[2] (Part of the James Bond movie Goldfinger was filmed between the Belvédère Hotel and the small curved part of the Pass above Realp.)

Between 1926 and 1981, Muttbach-Belvédère was owned and operated by the FO, which connects Brig in Valais, via Andermatt in Uri, with Göschenen, Uri, and Disentis/Mustér, Graubünden. In 1982, the original portion of the FO between Oberwald in Valais and Realp in Uri, including Muttbach-Belvédère, was replaced by an FO line passing through the then new Furka Base Tunnel. The superseded portion of the FO line was abandoned.

Since 11 July 1992, the abandoned portion of the FO line has been progressively reopened from Realp, as a heritage railway operated by the DFB. On 14 July 2000, the DFB was extended from its then temporary terminus at Furka to Gletsch, via the Summit Tunnel and Muttbach-Belvédère, which was simultaneously reopened.

Immediately to the west of Muttbach-Belvédère, westbound trains operating on the DFB line begin an 11.8% descent towards Gletsch, with the assistance of an Abt rack rail system.[2]

Rail services to Muttbach-Belvédère

Preceding station   Furka Cogwheel Steam Railway   Following station
toward Oberwald
Heritage railway
Operated by steam engines
toward Realp DFB

See also

References

Notes

  1. ↑ Haltepunkt, Retrieved 20 July 2010
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Travel report Realp-Furka-Gletsch". Furka Cogwheel Steam Railway official site. Retrieved 20 July 2010.

Further reading

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